Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, by Maggie Jackson

This was a great look at our collective, well, distraction. The lack of focus, the emphasis on multitasking, the constant clamor for our attention from a million noisy sources, and what that all might mean for our society.

Interesting bits about brain development and children- some scary stuff- and some even creepier bits about video monitoring and Bentham's panopticon. Eeep.

Good book, but somehow didn't grip me and keep me reading straight through, but I have a nasty cold or something and feel lobotomized, so that probably didn't help.

We Have Always Lived In The Castle, by Shirley Jackson

This turned out to be a re-read, which says a lot about it. I had totally forgotten I had read it until I got to the little chanting song "Merricat, Merricat, would you like a cup of tea?" and realized I had read it before.

Well, I don't know what to say, really, it is Shirley Jackson doing the gothic horror thing that she does, and although I really enjoyed The Haunting of Hill House and of course, her story The Lottery, gothic horror is just not my thing, and this book just strikes me as weird. I kind of wanted to kick all the characters. To say much more m ight give the 'twist' away, so I'll stop here.

We Have Always Lived In The Castle

Quality: 4 Popularity: 6 Overall: 10